● Nearly 4000 students placed on campus in multiple leading companies in India

Jalna (Maharashtra), 27 April 2012: Bharti Walmart, a joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and Walmart, today launched Bharti Walmart Training Centre at Jalna, Maharashtra, in Public Private Partnership with the Maharashtra Government, to train youth, free-of-cost, in retail skills to make them employable in a sector short of skilled manpower. The centre was inaugurated by Shri Rajesh Tope, Hon’ble Minister for Higher and Technical Education, Government of Maharashtra, in the presence of Mr. Murali Lanka, Senior Vice President, Operations, Bharti Walmart Pvt Ltd.

Speaking at the launch, Murali Lanka, Senior Vice President, Operations, Bharti Walmart said “The retail sector in India is growing at an exponential rate and therefore provides tremendous growth opportunities. The past few years have seen several companies starting their operations in India. However, the industry lacks the talent pool with required skill sets to leverage this huge potential. Bharti Walmart Training Centres aim to bridge this gap by imparting training on various aspects of retailing to under-privileged youth making them job-ready for their first employment in the retail sector. With the launch of our first training centre in Maharashtra, we hope to empower the youth of the state by skilling them and providing them economic opportunities.”

The Maharashtra Government’s campaign of reaching out to the people of rural and semi-rural areas of the state through a ‘Mobilizing Van’ will help spread awareness about the Bharti Walmart Training Centre in Jalna district. On February 15, 2012, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Bharti Walmart and the Maharashtra Government to launch 3 Bharti Walmart Training Centres in Maharashtra including Thane, Aurangabad and Jalna.

The training curriculum at the centres is based on Walmart Stores best global practices and will be implemented through Centum Learning. This will help the people of Maharashtra to take advantage of the company’s global knowledge and expertise in the retail business. Successful candidates will be certified by Bharti Walmart, which will also help the certified students find employment.

About Bharti Walmart Private Limited

Bharti Walmart Private Limited is a business-to-business (B2B) joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and Walmart Stores Inc. for wholesale cash-and-carry and back-end supply chain management operations in India to serve small retailers, manufacturers and farmers. The JV launched its first B2B Best Price Modern Wholesale cash-and-carry store in Amritsar in May 2009. A typical cash-and-carry store stands between 50,000 and 100,000 square feet and sells a wide range of fresh, frozen and chilled foods, fruits and vegetables, dry groceries, personal and home care, hotel and restaurant supplies, clothing, office supplies and other general merchandise items. The JV is expected to open a total of 12-15 new Best Price Modern Wholesale stores in India in 2012. Currently, there are 17 Best Price Modern Wholesale stores located at Amritsar, Zirakpur, Jalandhar, Kota, Bhopal, Ludhiana, Raipur, Indore, Vijayawada, Meerut, Agra, Lucknow, Jammu, Guntur, Aurangabad, Bhatinda and Amravati. For more information, please visit: http://bharti-walmart.in